Lyra hopped out of bed, waking Bon Bon with her action; much to the mare's dismay. "Bon Bon! It's today! My first shift starts tonight!"
Bon Bon did not look very amused; her mane and coat were a mess, and Lyra seemed to not care much. This feeling was not mutual. "Lyra, why are you so hyped for this? The case is over... they've concluded the suits were wired incorrectly, and that everything should be fine from here. Why still investigate? It's a cold case."
"Do you not believe?!" Lyra cried out, leaping in the air and picking up Bon Bon to twirl with her. "Do you know how happy I am to get this job? I'll be up close to the action! Right next to it as it happens! This will be the best day of my life!"
Bon Bon sighed impatiently, breaking from the heavy embrace and sitting on the bed, combing straight her mane. "You ought not to take this lightly then," she said in a mocking tone. "Surely the animatronics have attacked in the past, what makes you think they won't do it again?"
"Who says I think they won't?" Lyra replied with a pinch of sass. "I've always wanted to see them when they 'roam around at night' as I've heard so many others talk about. So, I've come prepared!"
"Prepared?" Bon Bon almost forgot she was supposed to be being sarcastic. "I mean... oh yeah? How can you prepare for a set of metallic jaws latching onto your head and ripping your cranium right off?" That was a tad bit too dark, so Bon Bon decided to stop the whole "sarcasm act" before Lyra took her too seriously. "Look, Lyra... I love to see you happy, but I hate to see you get so hyped up for something that isn't true at all."
Lyra sighed in a playful tone and sat next to Bon Bon, with her arm around her. Bon Bon blushed as she looked into Lyra's bold eyes. "Bon, don't ya know who you're talkin' to? Equestria's one and only crypt-anthropologist! I've done many extensive studies on urban legends and mythological stories. We live in a world of pastel colored anthropomorphic ponies, you think something as cool as killer animatronics is far from what you call normal?"
"Anthropomorphic? Lyra... you're making up words again," Bon Bon said with a long sigh and eye roll of disbelief. "I don't doubt you so harshly as you make it seem half the time... I just don't want you to look foolish.... Again..." Then she looked away from her, with her head hanging low.
"You don't want me to look foolish? Or you don't want you to look foolish for being with me?"
Bon Bon gasped, "You really wanna bring that back up after all this time? Look, I was drunk when I said that! We were drinking at Berry's house and I just had a slip of the tongue..."
"Alcohol is the serum of truth, and it lowers your resistance to holding back your feelings... you told me I embarrassed you with my antics, and even though we made up the very next day, putting it off as a slip of the tongue, I've been haunted by it ever since."
Bon Bon now felt a deep scar be reopened, but she did not know how to close it back up. It seemed an apology would be a long shot. Just as she prepared to open her mouth to say anything, Lyra stood up, looking away fairly angrily. But, Bon Bon knew deep down she had possibly scarred her more. It was not her fault, but at the same time it was. She was drunk, she had no control over what she was saying, but Lyra was right. She really did hold that deep in her mind, that she got kind of embarrassed with Lyra around whenever they were in public and Lyra would begin to preach about her special studies and profession choices. This carefree attitude was why Bon Bon got with her in the first place, but at times, Lyra took it too far, and it secretly got on her nerves. She just wished she could make it up to Lyra in some way so she did not have to go to work tonight and come home still holding it against her.
"If you need me, I'll be at the Pizzeria... preparing for my shift..." Lyra said in a melancholic tone. She was about to turn to go to the bathroom, but Lyra grabbed her tail, which greatly surprised Lyra, enough to force a blush of red to emerge on her face. Lyra turned to see Bon Bon with bedroom eyes, sexily poised on the bed, biting her lip and asking for it. "Bon?... Are you...?"
"It doesn't have to be on the bed!" Bon Bon shouted, jumping on Lyra and pinning her on the floor, kissing her with passionate force. She stopped to hug her tightly, while holding back tears. "I hate to see you in despair, sweetie. That's not you, and I don't want to see you like that ever again! Why don't we make up like we always do, and this time, why don't I be on top?"
"Bon, do you think sex will fix all our relationship problems? Just like that?"
Bon Bon smiled lustfully and kissed Lyra again, sitting up as she straddled her body. "It certainly did that one night, right? And it definitely brings us closer and closer each time, you know? Sometimes, talking can't cut it, so we gotta do it some other way."
Lyra smiled, but hesitated to. She too sat up and rubbed Bon Bon's shoulders, her smooth coat like silk to her touch, it made her shudder. Her candy colored mane and her slightly above average breasts which dwarfed her own. Bon Bon was a goddess walking in Equestria, and Lyra believed there was no mare better than her in all the land. "Mirror Mirror, on the wall. Which mare is the sweetest of them all? My sweet Sweetie Drop!" she exclaimed, throwing Bon Bon onto the bed and pinning her down just as the mare had done to her earlier. "I love you so much, Bon."
Bon Bon blushed, and submitted to Lyra. She sighed in relief. "Look Lyra... I know we can't agree one hundred percent of the time, but we do have some good make-up sex... You surely do know we can't keep sweeping our problems under the rug, so... after you finish your magical shift, we'll pick the dirt up from under that rug and talk our problems out, 'kay?"
"Why not now?" Lyra pondered in slight confusion. "My shift doesn't start until twelve at midnight and it ends at six in the morning."
Bon Bon switched places with Lyra quicker than the mare could react. "Somethings are worth waiting for..." she replied, kissing her again.
Lyra rushed to the pizzeria, aptly named "Honest Applejack's Party Pizzeria", and she wondered what changed them from "Pinkie's". She heard that they stopped production of the Pinkie animatronic, as they were so expensive to make, certainly more expensive than the others. The easier animatronic to make was Applejack, and on top of that, with the rebirth of country music and westerns, the foals, fillies, and colts wanted a country mascot to be at their parties, so they got rid of Pinkie and replaced her with Applejack, as they knew she'd make them much more money. Lyra did not blame them however.
The Pinkie animatronics were certainly a pain to produce, as they came with so many parts and so many actions. One thing was to make them, but it was an entirely different story to program them. Applejack's animatronic was easier, only having to do three things: Sing, tell stories, and juggle apples that she carried in a backpack. The apples were soft and plush, and new motion sensing soft ware made it impossible for her to drop them. But Lyra heard that with all the new money being made, the great company would try to fix up their old Pinkie animatronics, as they were all nearly an entire decade outdated by the new models, and that they would make many new animatronics as well.
Lyra met Vinyl Scratch at the front doors of the party pizzeria place. She was talking on the phone with somepony who she seemed to be angry with, but open seeing Lyra walking up to her, she told the pony on the other line that she'd call them back, welcoming Lyra with open arms and pleased exclamations.
"Ayee! Lyra, my girl! It's been forever, mate!" Vinyl screamed in pure zeal, running to Lyra and hugging her tightly. "Man, you sure now how to make a mare happy, eh? How's it been since college, mate?"
"Vinyl, I've been great! I heard how you were managing this place, and I knew if I wanted a job working the night shift, I'd get it that much easier," Lyra said with happiness, fist-bumping with Vinyl and smacking tails with her as they horn-rubbed. Then they both exclaimed,
"Wubzy Wubzy Lovely Dove, Friendship is Magic from the clouds above!"
With loud laughter, they hugged once again, nearly driving one another to tears. Lyra broke from the hug and sighed in nostalgic relief. "I can't believe you remember that from all these years, matey. You haven't changed a bit! So... how'd you land a job like this? I thought you wanted to be a DJ?"
"Girlll, those kids in there love dubstep! I came in here one day a couple a years back for one of Octavia's little cousins' parties, and they were blastin' some epic beats, so I figured, if the kids in here like those beats, I can have my 'humble beginning' here, and just work my way up."
"Wait, you got with Octavia?!" Lyra squealed, patting Vinyl on the back and letting out a hearty laugh. "Damn girl, how'd you land a nice piece like that?"
"I can say the same with you and Sweetie Drop," Vinyl said, "I saw you too at that party the other night a couple of weeks ago, but there were so many ponies there, I couldn't reach ya in time to ask how it was goin'."
"You were there? Damn, we could've caught up with one another there! I was wasted though... and I didn't have any idea of who was there at all. I'm never gettin' that wasted again, but it was Berry Punch's birthday, and I couldn't bail on that chugging contest."
"I had got into that too! When I tell you I was tore up from the floor up, I was tore up! I ain't never drink like that in my life, and never again either!"
"I hear ya. I just can't believe we didn't have the chance to make up... We really did separate after college ended, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry I couldn't keep in touch, me and Bon Bon had a hundred percent of one another's attention, and I didn't have much time to make time for other things... She was and is my whole world. I love her so much."
"Don't make yourself feel sorry, I take part of the blame, since I dropped out early, and Octavia was still in, I had to hustle selling my tracks to make my living, taking up a few jobs here and there, I didn't have much time for friends either, and after Octavia and you and the others graduated, our entire worlds changed right before our eyes... I was worried that we'd end up too grown up and cultured by the real world to even remember one another's faces... but, here we are now..."
"Yeah, small world, ain't it?" Lyra wiped a tear away and hugged Vinyl again. "So... what's Octavia doin'? I can't see her workin' here even to play music. This doesn't seem like an establishment she'd partake in, ya know?"
"Yeah, I tried to get her to come with me, but she wanted to work with some group that plays music at fancy restaurants for VIPs. I just don't get it... but sure, I love that mare. She's the one who can keep me calm when I get too hyped up, she even listens to some of my beats to make sure they're perfect before I put 'em out there to be sold. She really helps out a lot, even though I don't get her classic music most of the time."
Lyra looked into the building, seeing Applejack singing a song for the children as they all cheered and hopped around her in joy. She giggled lightly. "Tonight..." she said, wondering if Vinyl had heard anything about the events which happened a few decades ago. "Hey Vinyl?..."
"What is it, Lyra?" the DJ asked, fixing her glasses.
"Shouldn't we be getting back inside?" Lyra asked her, looking back in again with a wide smile on her face. "I kinda wanna see the inside of the place... I've only seen it in pictures..."
Vinyl shrugged. "It's a'ight. Not much but a bunch of farm themes and checkers and plaid. Made for the country, I tell ya."
Vinyl and Lyra went into the building and began to talk about their experiences which they have had since college ended. Catching up throughout the rest of the day up until night time, Lyra was happy to finally get to know Vinyl all over again. It was as if they were children again. Sure, where this exact Pizzeria used to be was another company's party place, but the new improved Pinkie's Party Incorporated took it over. Lyra and Vinyl met within the place as foals, and now they worked together here now. Ironically, Vinyl was the "top dog" around when they were younger, whenever they came to the place, and Lyra would always be the one under her. Nothing really changed, though, Lyra could tell Vinyl was much humbler than she used to be. Heck, even in college Vinyl has a problem with her pride! But now, she seemed so mature and collected. Still Vinyl, but better.
Soon, it got dark, and was 11:00 P.M. already. Checking her time, Vinyl whistled in surprise. "Well... it's about time I prepare to leave, Lyra. I gotta check up on the janitor. She's also new here... well... you could say that. She used to work here when the other place before the place we used to go here was still here. Funny how it's in the same exact place... eh?"
So then she should be a relic that would provide much use for Lyra in her investigation. "Really? Umm... what's her name?"
"It's Roseluck," Vinyl answered, as she pointed Lyra to the aging mare as she swept the area behind the ticket cash in stand. "She's pretty fragile, if you couldn't guess by her name. She's got plenty stories about when this place used to be called 'Pinkie's'. She may come off as a bit boring, but she's the one who helped me get the manager position here. I owe her a lot."
"Manager and DJ? That's a lot to do around here, isn't it?" Lyra asked.
"It ain't much when ya get used to it."
Roseluck finished sweeping and walked over to Vinyl and Lyra, checking out Lyra for a bit. "She's perfect for the job. I like her!"
"Well, that's OOC for you, Miss Roseluck," Vinyl told the mare. "So, is Derpy pickin' you up again? Or do I gotta drive ya? I know she works late sometimes, right?"
"Oh no, it's fine," Roseluck said with a laugh. "Derpy told me already she'd be here to pick me up."
There was a honk outside. Lyra looked out to find the mare driving a black car, looking out of her window and waving in for Roseluck to come on out. Lyra watched the mare walk outside and leave in the car with this "Derpy" fellow. She felt something strange about her, and knew she heard that name before. And also Roseluck's. They seemed strangely familiar. "Hey, Vinyl? You said that Roseluck used to work here? Did... Did Derpy use to work here too?"
Vinyl shrugged her shoulders. "Roseluck never talks about her. I just found out her name last week. That's how little she speaks of her. She also never comes in to pick her up... I wonder why. It ain't like there's anything dangerous in here."
Lyra thought to herself, Oh Vinyl... if only you knew as much as I did. Then she said aloud, "Maybe she had a bad experience here with the animatronics as a kid or something. I heard something about the old, old, old animatronics having a lot of bugs in them that needed to be worked out as it was hazardous to the youths here."
"Yeah... maybe so. I also heard about something like the 'Bite of '86' or some crap like that. Some urban legend bull that the elders probably just made up to scare us as kids, y'know? I do the same thing around here with the foals. Some of them never believe me though, and half of them eat it up like tacos! Man, then they tell me how cool it would be if they caught it on camera to put it on 'YouHoof' or something like that. These kids scare me more than a killer animatronic would. L.O.L. But, they're making us both hundreds a week."
"True that," Lyra said, now getting a mildly uneasy feeling in her gut. Leave, it told her. Once Vinyl leaves, just leave and tell her you did the shift and it was a piece of cake. Lyra hated when her gut did that, as listening to it usually made her miss out something awesome. She didn't want to listen to her gut this time.
The next hour went by like the wind, and Lyra had managed to get herself hyped for her first night. Vinyl even showed her how to work the equipment. There was a high tech tablet that could monitor all the cameras in the establishment, and it had a charger. However, the charger was its own separate electrical system.
"What's up with that?" Lyra asked Vinyl. "Why does it have its own generator?"
"Electric's expensive these days, and the Corp doesn't wanna spend any extra money keeping the place lighted at nights. It saves them millions nationwide, trust me. Saves me a lot too. That actually brings up a pretty funny story! My last night watcher guy ran out one night and pissed his pants. Well, I could tell, cuz there was piss everywhere in the office. He said he could not explain why he didn't and that he didn't want the job anymore. Poor guy probably used up all of his energy for the night and got scared! Hahaha! Poor guy was too scared to tell me he had a fear of the dark. I didn't wanna call him out for it though, it was bad enough I didn't tell him the power could run out on him if he used it too much."
Yeah, that was the thing Vinyl told her that got her hyped up, but thinking about it after Vinyl had left, Lyra's gut told her the same thing. Just leave. "I hate my doubts, my fears... But... Vinyl's gone now. Just the fear getting to you. You came because you wanted to investigate with the hopes of finding anything out about those weird animatronics," she told herself aloud. "Everything will be fine. You won't run out of power. You came prepared." And that, she did, she had brought her own generator just in case the power went out, and a flashlight just in case the generator malfunctioned. "With this, I'll have enough power till six. And I'll be able to investigate freely as much as I want."
Vinyl thanked Lyra before she left, telling her it should be easy since she used to work the night shift as well before she became the manager. That too eased Lyra's nerves a bit. Surely some haunted animatronics would have eaten her alive if she had been the night shift worker as well, but Vinyl was promoted. The other guy quit after the first night however, and that rose suspicions in Lyra's mind. She also wanted to know where she heard the names "Roseluck" and "Derpy" from before? Perhaps they were indeed workers caught up in the affairs of the previous years. Or perhaps the names were truly meaningless to begin with. Whether in a dream of premonitions or a dream of past events, Lyra knew she had heard the names before. That was fact no matter what.
"Oh well... whatever I'll find out, I'll find it out later..." Lyra told herself, watching Vinyl drive off, waving goodbye. Making her way to the office as the clock read 11:57 P.M., Lyra took a deep breath and smiled as she turned the tablet on to check the animatronics' holding room. Applejack, Rarity, Twilight Sparkle, and the new model Celestia. Though, there seemed to be another spot open. Perhaps that animatronic was being held some place else, or being repaired. Perhaps that used to be Pinkie's spot, Lyra thought. It was yet another "Oh well" moment for her. She saw she had 100% power, and wanted to use it all tonight. She knew the first shift would be the hardest for her, just getting used to the facility and all. Something told her it would be her easiest night, rather... somepony.
12:00 A.M.
Night One
Immediately the phone rang, and it made Lyra jump out of her seat a bit. She clenched onto the tablet before she realized it was just the phone. Funny how foreign the sound first was as it broke her concentration. In curiosity, she answered the phone:
"Hello? Hello!" The voice was a stallion's, he sounded rather aged. About in his late forties. "Just wanted to leave you a quick message to help you get used to your first night on the job. I used to work in that office a long time before you, but I have to leave for....reasons. I thought it might be good to leave you a few pointers over my last couple of days on the job. Years back, at least."
That caught Lyra's attention immediately. "Who are you? Where... what... when?" She had so many questions, and sweat began to accumulate all over her body. "Answer me!... You?"
"First of all, there are some legal and new job things I have to tell you, of course completely out of consideration and all that 'wonderful' stuff."
Either this was prerecorded or this guy was just a douche.
"Welcome to your new job as the night guard here at Applejack's Pizzeria, hell, used to be called 'Pinkie's' back then, but hey, what the hell? Right? Where the atmosphere is 'friendly', the building is 'clean', the animatronics are 'funny', and where pizza and 'fun' is 'all in a days work'. At least, that's what I was told and have been told to tell you. New watcher. Applejack's Pizzeria and all associated trademarks belong to AJ Entertainment. AJ Entertainment is not responsible for damage to property or persons for misuse, tampering, or faults with systems or equipment."
"The rest of it is just ramblings and other boring legal stuff, nothing that you need to concern yourself with now. Right now let's focus on your job. You need to keep a close eye on the place, make sure everything stays in it's proper place and that none of them get hurt. The animatronics, I mean. Guess the contract didn't tell you much about them."
Didn't need to, Lyra thought. She certainly had in mind those "wonderful" things this stallion was talking about.
"When they were programmed, they didn't really have a proper night mode. These things were built to walk around during the day, but we had to put an end to that after we had a few....incidents.... so the characters may wander around a bit at night. Now before you go off and start panicking, there is really nothing to worry about...for the most part anyways. There was talk of a weird glitch in the system that our unicorn engineers noticed, something about them seeing people at night as an endoskeleton out of it's suit, and that is against the rules for any Applejack's Pizzeria location...in other words they might try to put a suit on you. It's not so bad at first...um...I won't go into detail, but it's important that you do not let them into your office."
At this point, that was a no-brainer.
"Now the building's power is cut off during the night, as you were probably told, to save the corporation money and all that, cuz y'know, why waste money keeping the power on the darn things if there's nopony there but you, am I right? Ha!"
The obvious sarcasm was painfully obvious.
"So you only have a limited amount of power to use. Use it wisely. Just check your cameras, make sure everyone stays in their proper place, and if anything gets to close for comfort you can close your door. Now using the camera and keeping the door closed does use some power each, so don't waste it."
"But I have a generator, I don't got nothing to worry about!" Lyra wanted to say, but the silence which followed after his occasional pauses was proving to be a time for her to check the tablet. Rarity was gone.
"I know it's a lot to take in on your first night, but it is a job worth those 50 bits a night. Just follow those instructions, you can leave when your shift ends at 6. I'll call you again tomorrow night. Goodnight and good luck! And by the way... Nah... it's your first night, you'll survive. I'll tell you tomorrow."
Obviously, that was not prerecorded, but before Lyra could say anything, the call ended. She checked the tablet again, and found Rarity to still be gone. "Moving around at night? How else is he gonna know that without prior experience...That guy has definitely worked here before, but how it sounded at first, he was here WAAY before this place... Could he be? No... that's absurd... I don't even know the name. And what does he mean by 'survive'? The way he made it seem is like he owned the place, and had gone through night watching for years... Too many questions are swarming in my head now!" Checking the tablet again, she found Rarity sitting idle in the bathroom, staring in the mirror.
Lyra choked back a laugh. "That's like you, isn't it?"
Then she checked in the animatronic room again. A new animatronic was in Rarity's place. Lyra had seen her on the posters around the building, apparently she was brand new to the animatronic team: Sunset Shimmer.
Rarity was outside of the door.
